


A Foundation of Fluff

by a3rie



Series: Soup to Nuts [1]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Other, ambiguous timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25706686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a3rie/pseuds/a3rie
Summary: Just little ficclets of three of my favorite characters as they grow even more comfortable around one another.
Relationships: Barbara Lake/Walter Strickler | Stricklander, Barbara Lake/Walter Strickler/Draal (heavily implied), Draal & Barbara Lake, Draal & Walter Strickler
Series: Soup to Nuts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094804
Comments: 22
Kudos: 44





	A Foundation of Fluff

Draal was still getting used to physical affection. 

It wasn’t that trolls had no equivalence, but humans were so much more demonstrative. It probably helped that their bodies were soft and inviting rather than the grating stone-against-stone trolls faced. Cuddling remained a foreign concept but it was one that he was slowly willing to admit was growing on him.

Currently, Barbara leaned back against his chest while she read over a case file from her work. He didn’t think she was really comfortable but he wasn’t going to shoo her away. He leaned forward a bit and snuffled at the hair by her ear, smirking when she flinched away from its tickle. 

Yes, the perception of touch was far more nuanced for humans.

Their quiet moment was cut short when Walter flung open the cellar door and stomped down the steps.

“Long day?” Barbara asked as she looked up upon his entrance.

The changeling didn’t bother answering with words and instead settled for grunting in irritation. He also didn’t bother with any formal greeting as he unceremoniously wedged his way in between the two so he could lean back into Draal and bring Barbara into his own lap. His arms wrapped firmly around her waist as he settled her against him. 

He sighed and rubbed his forehead against her neck, letting her hair fall around his face while enjoying her fresh, citrus-y scent.

Draal huffed at the intrusion and poked the presumptuous changeling in the side. They both jumped.

“Stop that.”

Without acknowledging the command, Draal leaned around and roughly licked the other male to goad him further. His sand-paper like tongue easily messed up his carefully combed pompadour.

“And _stop that_ ! Disgusting.”

“But I thought that was how humans showed affection,” the troll said with false innocence, “With their mouths, like barbarians.”

Walter took a deep breath, ready to retaliate with a witty reply but he deflated at Barbara’s jab to his ribs.

“Will you two be quiet so I can read?”

“You could easily go elsewhere to read.”

“Easily?” She shimmied in his lap and raised an eyebrow, looking over her shoulder at him.

“Hmm.” The grip around her middle tightened and further proved her point. 

She laughed then moved to get more comfortable, “No more arguing. Feel free to _quietly_ vent about your day, though.”

“But you’re reading.”

“Yes, but Draal isn’t.”

The troll in question snorted and rolled his eyes, sure that the changeling wouldn’t bother to treat that comment like a serious suggestion. Though, the fact that Stricklander had situated himself against him was an odd concession of camaraderie. 

To Draal’s surprise, Walter gave a gusty sigh and threw his head back to rest on the other troll’s chest, “You will never believe what Lenora suggested this time.”

\----------

Draal looked up after the third groan in as many minutes.

As was becoming more and more usual these days, Barbara had joined him in the basement. The area was slowly starting to feel like a den, both in the traditional troll sense and the way humans meant it. At the moment, Barbara was lying on the ground as she sorted through a sea of loose papers. It seemed as though she was always working and he grunted sympathetically. 

“Hornache?”

“If that’s troll slang for headache, then no. More like a backache. I may take care in what shoes I buy but that doesn’t do a lot when up against long shifts. All night standing on linoleum isn’t doing me any favors.”

“Is there anything I could do to help?”

Barbara was prepared to laugh him off and assure that she was fine but an idea struck her before she could.

“Actually…”

o0o0o

“I am unsure about this. I may unintentionally hurt you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if it’s too much.” Her assurances ended in a low moan of pleasure as Draal overcame his hesitance and gave into her request.

His larger hand– warmed to a nearly painful heat by resting briefly against the furnace– covered the entirety of her back as he laid it flat across her spine.

He went to pull back at her groan but she quickly protested, “Don’t you dare stop, that feels fantastic.”

“You humans aren’t as fragile as I once thought but you are still far squishier than we trolls. I don’t want to put too much pressure.”

“I can’t remember the last time someone gave me a good back rub. I told you not to worry, I’ll let you know if you do anything painful. In fact, I could do with a little more pressure. If you could just--”

o0o0o

Across town, Strickler nearly dropped the bag of groceries Barbara had sent him after. He was suddenly overcome with the wonderful sensation of pressure and heat and he stumbled in his step towards his car.

Too many nights spent slouched over desks had been playing havoc with his back for as long as he could remember and now it felt as if he were somehow getting a deep tissue massage in the middle of a parking lot.

His eyes lost focus and crossed slightly as what unmistakably felt like a thumb rubbed firmly between his shoulder blades.

The backlash of his ill-thought-out charm had not been pretty. He couldn’t believe it when Barbara had finally forgiven him. Though he had long stopped being an enemy, the consequences of his past actions were not easy to escape. The binding spell that tied him to Barbara had never been removed and now he wasn’t sure he ever wanted it to be. 

He gave an embarrassing groan as two invisible fingers trailed down the column of his spine. 

“What _on earth_ is going on over there?”

\---------- 

Walter found him sharpening an axe with barely concealed agitation. 

Jim had finally told him about what had happened earlier down in Trollmarket-- a place he was still unwelcome to visit even after switching sides. After hearing about Jim’s meeting with the departed Kanjigar and the clipped message that had been passed along to his still living son… well, Walter had expected worse.

“Come on, stop brooding and get up.”

“Brooding is for Stalklings.”

The changeling sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He dealt with moody teenagers daily, he could deal with this.

“Like many words, brooding has more than one meaning and you well know I’m not talking about sitting on a clutch of eggs. Now, I said get up. Let’s see if you can wield that weapon half as well as you can polish it.”

“You want to spar?”

“When I’m angry, I find that action is far more helpful than sitting around moping.”

In a flash, he pulled a knife from his jacket and brandished the blade under the troll’s chin. Draal pulled back a fraction and his nostrils flared at the challenge. Before he could reply, the man was already turning to leave. 

As a parting jab, he tossed over his shoulder, “I’ll be in the backyard if you’d like to prove what you’re made of.”

o0o0o

It hadn’t taken long before Stricklander had had to shift into his true form to keep up. His blood sang as he dodged another swing and rolled out of the way, launching two more daggers before he even got his feet back under him. 

It felt good to cut loose. 

He never knew how good it could feel to fight just for the fun of it, without fearing that his opponent might try and take a friendly spar and turn it into the fastest way to a promotion. Draal was proving to be a great workout. 

In a moment of distraction the spiky troll managed to pin him. 

“Yield.”

“Never!” 

He thrashed and twisted, used to his smaller frame getting him out of tight spaces. Unfortunately, Draal had managed to grab his bad arm and only a few seconds in found him hissing. Draal had to pull back to avoid getting a horn to the eye and in doing so, pulled the other troll’s arm back at a further unnatural angle. 

There was a crack and then suddenly Sticklander went limp. 

Draal quickly let go and rolled off of him, panicked, “Are you--”

“Bloody fuckin’ hell,” the man groaned. He shifted into his human skin then rolled over, a look of bliss on his face seemed entirely out of place for what Draal thought just happened. 

“Are you alright?” Draal tried again. 

“That felt fantastic. That shoulder has given me trouble for decades! Who knew it was just out of socket this whole time?”

“You aren’t hurt?” 

“On the contrary! I could go for another few rounds!”

o0o0o

Barbara found them both on their backs and panting. 

The backyard looked as if-- well, as if two trolls had been fighting in it. Rocks busted, grass now nearly nonexistent, deep gouges in the dirt. 

But at least they looked happy. She didn’t care about lawns, anyway.

“Are you two ready for dinner?” 

Walter wheezed out a chuckle then managed to sit up, “That entirely depends on who cooked.”

“I’ll cook you,” she retorted, pushing him back to the ground.

Then she turned to Draal, “How are you feeling?” Jim had explained a little bit when she asked about what was happening to her poor yard. 

Draal snorted and nodded his head, “I am fine, thank you. Please, do feel free to cook the Impure.”

“Even after all of that? Betrayal.”

Draal rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide his smile. 

Barbra laughed and shook her head, “Alright, come on back in. Jim’s worked hard on dinner and even if it won’t be to your taste, Draal, Toby brought something by earlier that you might like. I made him leave it by the front door, it smelled so bad.”

“What is it?”

“I was afraid to ask. He only said that Aaarrrgghh loves whatever it is.”

“In some things it is better to be blissfully ignorant.”

“Yep. Now, come along boys. You need to at least hose some of the mud off before I’ll even think about letting you back in my house.”

**Author's Note:**

> There's a much raunchier bit that I'm debating on adding as the next chapter or putting it up as the next work in a series. If you'd rather them just all stay friends without sexy-times, let me know and I'll keep this fic as is and put the trashy self indulgence in another work.  
> This fic is pretty much set loosely in my Fantastic Upheaval AU wherein their truce and eventual friendship is first established. But this fic, and especially the race-y bits of whatever else might happen, are not actually part of that universe.  
> An AU of an AU if you will.


End file.
